Suspected U.S. strike kills 6 in Pakistani al-Qadia stronghold, officials say

A suspected U.S. strike killed six people Thursday on the Pakistan side of the Afghan border, a lawless region believed to be a stronghold of al-Qaida, two intelligence officials said.

The identities of those killed in the attack were not immediately known, officials said.
“At present, local Taliban have surrounded the destroyed house, and they are not letting anybody get close to it,” said one of the officials.

Citing agents and informants in the field, the officials said six people were killed in the strike late Thursday in a village near Azam Warsak in South Waziristan.

The United States is suspected of carrying out more than 30 missile strikes against militant targets on the Pakistan side of the Afghan border since August.

The attacks have killed scores of militants and angered Pakistani leaders, who said they undermine their own war on terror.

Most of the missiles are believed to be launched from unmanned spy planes that take off from neighboring Afghanistan.

Washington rarely confirms or denies the attacks. However, the U.S. military has said that the Taliban and other radical Islamist groups based on the Pakistan side of the border carry out attacks on American troops in Afghanistan.